Encyclopedia
The
Netherlands Antilles , previously known as the
Netherlands West Indies or
Dutch Antilles/West Indies, are part of the
Lesser Antilles and consist of two
groups of islands in the
Caribbean Sea that form an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands . The islands' economy is dependent mostly upon
tourism and
petroleum.
History
- See also Dutch colonial empire.
Both the leeward and windward island groups were discovered and initially settled by the
Spanish. In the
17th century, the islands were conquered by the Dutch West India Company and were used as bases for slave trade. Only in 1863 was slavery abolished.
In 1954, the islands were promoted from colony to a part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as an associated state within a federacy. The island of
Aruba was part of the Netherlands Antilles until 1986, when it was granted a "status apart", and became a separate part of the kingdom. Some of the other islands have indicated that they wish to obtain the same status, but no agreements on this have yet been reached. Other options sometimes considered are independence or together becoming a province of the Netherlands.
Politics
The head of state is the ruling monarch of the
Netherlands, who is represented in the Netherlands Antilles by a governor. The governor is also head of the local government, and forms, together with the council of ministers, the executive branch of the government.
The
legislative branch is two-layered. Delegates of the islands are represented in the government of the Netherlands Antilles, but each island has its own government that takes care of the daily tasks on the island.
Future status
The idea of the Netherlands Antilles as a state never enjoyed full support of all islands. Political relations between islands were often strained. After a long struggle, Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles to form its own state in 1986 . The desire for secession was also strong in
Sint Maarten.
In 2004 a commission of the governments of the Netherlands Antilles and the
Netherlands reported on a future status for the Netherlands Antilles. The commission advised a revision of the Statute of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in order to dissolve the Netherlands Antilles.
Two new associated states within the Kingdom of the Netherlands would be formed,
Curaçao and
Sint Maarten.
Bonaire,
Saba and
Sint Eustatius would become directly part of the
Netherlands as Kingdom Islands. On November 28, 2005, an agreement was signed between the Dutch government and the governments of each island that would put into effect the commission's findings by July 2007.
Islands
The Netherland Antilles have no major administrative divisions, although each island has its own local government.
The two island groups of which the Netherlands Antilles consists are:
| align="center" colspan=2 |
Anthem: Tera di Solo y suave biento [i] ...
, including an islet called
Klein Bonaire| align="center" colspan=2 |
Anthem: Himno di Krsou [i] ...
, including an islet called Klein Curaçao
Geography
The windward islands are all of volcanic origin and hilly, leaving little ground suitable for
agriculture. The leeward islands have a mixed volcanic and coral origin. The highest point is Mount Scenery, 862 metres , on
Saba .
The Netherlands Antilles have a
tropical climate, with warm weather all year round. The windward Islands are subject to
hurricanes in the summer months.
Economy
Tourism, petroleum transshipment and oil refinement , as well as offshore finance are the mainstays of this small economy, which is closely tied to the outside world. The islands enjoy a high per capita income and a well-developed infrastructure as compared with other countries in the region. Almost all consumer and capital goods are imported, with
Venezuela, the
United States, and
Mexico being the major suppliers, as well as the Dutch government which supports the islands with substantial development aid. Poor soils and inadequate water supplies hamper the development of
agriculture. The Antillean guilder has a fixed exchange rate with the
United States dollar of 1.79:1.
Demographics
A large part of the Netherlands Antilleans descends from European colonists and
African
slaves that were brought and traded here from the
17th to
19th century. The rest of the population originates from other Caribbean islands,
Latin America,
East Asia and elsewhere in the world.
Papiamentu is predominant on Curaçao and Bonaire . This Romance creole descends from
Portuguese with a strong
Spanish admixture plus subsequent lexical contributions from Dutch and, latterly,
English. Nevertheless, the official language of the islands is
Dutch, and English on St Maarten, Saba and St Eustatius. Legislation is produced in Dutch but parliamentary debate is in Papiamentu or English, depending on the island. Due to the islands' closeness to South America, Spanish is becoming increasingly known and used throughout the archipelago.
The majority of the population are followers of the
Christian faith, mostly
Roman Catholic. Curaçao also hosts a sizeable group of
Jews, descendants of a
Portuguese group of Sephardic Jews that arrived from Amsterdam and
Brazil in 1654.
Most Netherlands Antilleans are
Dutch citizens and this status permits and encourages the young and university-educated to emigrate to the Netherlands. This exodus is considered to be to the islands' detriment as it creates a brain drain. On the other hand, immigrants from the
Dominican Republic,
Haiti, the Anglophone Caribbean and
Colombia have increased their presence in the last years.
Culture
The origins of the population and location of the islands give the Netherlands Antilles a mixed culture. The Wikipedia articles on the specific islands have more information on culture.
Tourism and overwhelming media presence from the
United States has increased the regional United States influence. On all the islands, the holiday of
Carnival is, like in many
Caribbean and
Latin American countries, an important one.
See also: Music of Aruba and the Netherlands Antilles, Culture of St. MartinMiscellaneous topics
Both the land area and population of the Netherlands Antilles are just more than half that of
Zeeland, a mainland province. Unlike the metropolitan Netherlands,
same-sex marriages cannot be performed here, but those performed in other jurisdictions are recognized. Also unlike the mainland, prostitution and marijuana are also illegal.
...
- Transportation in the Netherlands Antilles
- Scouting Antiano
- Antillenhuis-- Cabinet of the minister plenipotentiary of the Netherlands Antilles in the Hague
External links
- - Main governmental site
- of the Netherlands Antilles
-
- - Cabinet of the Netherlands Antilles' Plenipotentiary Minister in the Netherlands
- [https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/nt.html CIA World Factbook: Netherlands Antilles]
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